SCORES of residents living along a notorious Dorking cut-through road have hit back at motorists complaining about restrictions being placed on them.
As reported in last week's Advertiser, Surrey County Council has installed speed table ramps and "no entry except for access" signs at each end of Vincent Road – a narrow residential street linking South Street and Vincent Lane – to deter rush-hour drivers who use it as a rat run.
But after drivers claimed residents had "no right" to restrict its use, householders described the 20-year catalogue of incidents, which prompted the move.
Zuleika Burnett told the Advertiser: "The amount of criminal damage, and the number of hit and run incidents endured on the street over the years has been far greater than anyone should expect.
"I have been a victim of my parked car being hit on many occasions since living on the road. It's not just broken wing mirrors and the odd scrape we are dealing with at all, it's also cars being written off, misuse and dangerous driving on a road which is too narrow for the volume of traffic."
Fellow Vincent Road resident Hannah Mayo said she was delighted at the new restrictions, which have been funded by supermarket firm Lidl which is building a store in nearby Vincent Lane.
She said: "I'm sure that anyone who lives in a narrow residential street would prefer other motorists not to speed down it in an attempt to shave a few minutes off their journey time, and wouldn't like totally unsuitable heavy goods vehicles being directed down it by their sat-nav systems.
"We hope that drivers who see our street merely as a cut-through will appreciate that this is largely about the safety of our children, and the reduction in congestion, and damage to our cars."
Other residents told us of "volleys of abuse", hooting and threats being hurled at them by motorists – and even one case where a mother's car door was nudged closed by the impatient driver of one vehicle as she carried her baby to her home.
Rob Bonn, of residents' group the Vincent Road Campaign Team, added: "Obviously residents are sympathetic to motorists not being legally entitled to use Vincent Road as a rat run anymore. Most of us drive and we've all been guilty of nipping down a quiet side-street to maintain the illusion of progress. And we also appreciate that we have no more right over a public highway than the next person.
"But that's why after years of car damage, pet deaths and head-to-head confrontations on what is a blind, single carriageway, the council agreed that, in this case, the needs of the residents outweighed those of motorists.
"We followed the correct consultation process and once local people and businesses understood the reasoning, virtually everyone was very community-minded and supported the change."
The group intends to report drivers who persistently ignore the "access only" designation to police.
